We recently spent a day doing science experiments about melting. It fit well with our snowmen activities we did earlier. We did activities melting ice, candles, chocolate chips, and crayon bits. This day was inspired by activities in Science is Simple by Peggy Ashbrook and The Complete Daily Curriculum by Pam Schiller and Pat Phipps.

Of course to kick off our look at melting, we started by lighting small candles planted in bowls of sand to catch the wax.

Colored Blocks of Ice

First freeze blocks of ice. I used old 1/2 gallon cardboard drink packages such as an orange juice container. After they were frozen, when it was time, tear off the cardboard sides.

Put coarse salt, such as Kosher salt, onto the block of ice. We just sprinkled it over the top before lunch time and then came back to our blocks of ice after lunch. This gave the salt time to melt little tunnels into the ice.

Drop colored water onto the block of ice. We used plastic pipettes (an eye dropper would work great too) and liquid watercolor paint. The color drizzled through the tunnels made by the salt creating really cool designs and showing how the salt had melted down the ice.

Chocolate Chips–Another solid to melt

To show that things other than ice and candles can melt, we looked at how chocolate melts. I gave each girl a chocolate chip to hold in their hands. Of course this works best if you give them an extra chocolate chip to eat. Then they held their chip tight in their hands while doing jumping jacks, dancing, and marching around the house. Afterwards we opened our hands to see how the chocolate chip had melted.

Showing off their chocolate chips

Rainbow Crayons

Finally, we made our own new rainbow crayons to look at one more example of how things melt into a liquid and then harden into a solid.

Here are our circle activities we did the other day. With winter, snowmen have made a big appearance in our house so it seemed like a great time to have a circle day. We played circle games, explored which items rolls, sorted money, and looked for circles in the world around us.

Skills: math, science, visual discrimination, movement, art

Sorting Money

My girls are really interested in coins so this seemed like a great circle activity. I made these large coin pieces–the girls needed to be able to see both sides of the coin to match them (especially since there are some with different pictures) so I cut out and glued together the two coin pieces before laminating them. With the pieces spread out on the floor, the girls each got a small pile of money that they sorted onto the correct paper piece.

Does it roll?

I put together a group of items from around the house, some of which roll and others that do not. We then took turns trying to roll them across the floor. Before we started we talked about how circles do not have any corners and that makes them round. As we rolled things we then started looking at if they were a sphere or a cylinder.

Hula Hoops and Circle Games

They might not be able to really hula hoop but the girls LOVE playing with them so we got them out on circle day. Even if they can’t hula hoop yet, it doesn’t mean they can’t have fun with these giant circles.

We also played circle games such as “Ring Around the Rosie” and “Down by the Banks.”

Studying Drop of Water

We used our plastic pipettes to put a drop of water onto wax paper. We then studied them with our magnifying glass to see how it bubbled it up and made a circle.

Circles are Everywhere

In order to see that circles are everywhere we went for a walk around the neighborhood looking for circles. And we practiced drawing circles throughout the day

I also tried to have circle themed meals, such as cutting their sandwiches and having the girls help me make hamburgers that night.

Snowmen

During winter and especially for circle day, we’ve been using our 5 Little Snowmen from last year. While we did use some of the poems from before, we also did some new ones this year. You can find all of our snowmen counting poems here: Snowmen Counting Poems

And we made these cute little snowmen this year. I gave the girls the three different sized circles for them to put in order and glue together. Then the girls covered the snowmen in cotton balls before adding all the different decorations. I used paper plates for the white paper so that it would be strong enough to hold all the cotton balls and goodies.

Who Am I?

I think this is where I'm suppose to say something witty about myself. Oh well. I'm a stay-at-home mom to three awesome kids--our twin daughters who are seven now and a two-year-old son who is full of energy. In my pre-children life I was a teacher and I now homeschool our children. I'm also married to Ed, who is currently serving in the Air Force, and is the love of my life (it'd be awkward if he wasn't). Our family is big on books, crafts, and having fun together. I just thought I would share our activities in my own little corner of the internet.

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